Claire
07-28-2008, 10:47 AM
Fresh from the dailypaul:
I apologize, I am not the most computer savvy person. I am not sure how to do this but to cut-n-paste the whole thing, but please read it and my comments that follow. The punch line is WELL worth the effort, I promise!
"Sali proves as effective in D.C. as in Boise
Jim Fisher
July 27, 2008
It may be that voters in Idaho's 1st Congressional District don't care if their congressman is one of the most extreme in the nation. Bill Sali, for example, has signed on as one of four co-sponsors of Rep. Ron Paul's legislation requiring the United States to withdraw from the United Nations. But what if that extremism is helping make him one of the least effective members of Congress?
According to the power rankings of the nonpartisan Congress.org, Sali ranks 423rd in the 435-member House. (You probably haven't heard of the dozen members behind him in the rankings.)
That is bad enough, but with Sen. Larry Craig's plummet to No. 98 out of 99 senators ranked by the group, Idaho's delegation is considered feebler than any neighboring state.
Congress.org scores Idaho's power average at 11.10, compared to 21.93 for Washington, 22.56 for Oregon, 36.79 for Nevada, 20.27 for Utah, 12.26 for Wyoming and 25.86 for Montana.
The fact that Democrats now control both chambers of Congress affects the rankings to Republicans' disfavor, of course. And Nevada's representation by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the most powerful member of his chamber, certainly boosts its rank.
But Idaho's other House member, Republican Mike Simpson, scores in the middle of his colleagues at No. 220. The state's other senator, Mike Crapo, doesn't even reach mid-ground, ranking at No. 72 in the 100-member Senate.
Craig's fall from power is explained by his guilty plea resulting from a sex sting in an airport men's room. But Sali's has nothing to do with private conduct. It's his public behavior that has made him little more than a chair-warmer in the House.
His support for withdrawal from the U.N. is but one example. With it, he has aligned himself, as has Paul, with the John Birch Society. In fact, during a recent visit to Lewiston, Sali huddled with Birch Society members in Clarkston, one place in the nation with an active local chapter.
It was the Birch Society that the late William F. Buckley sought to purge from the conservative movement in the 1960s, lest its crackpot notions - the society's founder labeled President Eisenhower a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy" - doom it to failure.
But Sali's alignment with Birchers isn't his only demonstration of fringe politics. His joining 40 other House members who sought to sustain President Bush's unpopular veto of improvements to Medicare is another.
Then there are the things he says that aren't so, the most famous being his continued insistence that abortions cause breast cancer. It was after he refused to stop repeating that on the floor of the Idaho House that then-Speaker Bruce Newcomb called Sali "an absolute idiot."
The Wall Street Journal last week published a story on Sali's current race with Democrat Walt Minnick, and contacted Newcomb about that characterization. The Republican former legislator, now teaching at Boise State University, declared, "I've not withdrawn my statement."
Surely by now there must be more than a few 1st District residents who wish they could withdraw their votes for a representative whose lack of moderation denies him political power. - J.F."
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - let Bill Sali know you appreciate his courage TODAY!!!
http://www.billsali.com/
KEEP THIS BUMPED ALL DAY!!! Please post this on any sympathetic forum you know
CAN I GET A STICKY???
THIS IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT - TODAY!!!!
If you WILL FOLLOW THROUGH, promise to donate if the "rumor you hear is true." TRUST ME - you will WANT to donate if the rumor I HEARD is true...
WATCH IDAHO!!!
I apologize, I am not the most computer savvy person. I am not sure how to do this but to cut-n-paste the whole thing, but please read it and my comments that follow. The punch line is WELL worth the effort, I promise!
"Sali proves as effective in D.C. as in Boise
Jim Fisher
July 27, 2008
It may be that voters in Idaho's 1st Congressional District don't care if their congressman is one of the most extreme in the nation. Bill Sali, for example, has signed on as one of four co-sponsors of Rep. Ron Paul's legislation requiring the United States to withdraw from the United Nations. But what if that extremism is helping make him one of the least effective members of Congress?
According to the power rankings of the nonpartisan Congress.org, Sali ranks 423rd in the 435-member House. (You probably haven't heard of the dozen members behind him in the rankings.)
That is bad enough, but with Sen. Larry Craig's plummet to No. 98 out of 99 senators ranked by the group, Idaho's delegation is considered feebler than any neighboring state.
Congress.org scores Idaho's power average at 11.10, compared to 21.93 for Washington, 22.56 for Oregon, 36.79 for Nevada, 20.27 for Utah, 12.26 for Wyoming and 25.86 for Montana.
The fact that Democrats now control both chambers of Congress affects the rankings to Republicans' disfavor, of course. And Nevada's representation by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the most powerful member of his chamber, certainly boosts its rank.
But Idaho's other House member, Republican Mike Simpson, scores in the middle of his colleagues at No. 220. The state's other senator, Mike Crapo, doesn't even reach mid-ground, ranking at No. 72 in the 100-member Senate.
Craig's fall from power is explained by his guilty plea resulting from a sex sting in an airport men's room. But Sali's has nothing to do with private conduct. It's his public behavior that has made him little more than a chair-warmer in the House.
His support for withdrawal from the U.N. is but one example. With it, he has aligned himself, as has Paul, with the John Birch Society. In fact, during a recent visit to Lewiston, Sali huddled with Birch Society members in Clarkston, one place in the nation with an active local chapter.
It was the Birch Society that the late William F. Buckley sought to purge from the conservative movement in the 1960s, lest its crackpot notions - the society's founder labeled President Eisenhower a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy" - doom it to failure.
But Sali's alignment with Birchers isn't his only demonstration of fringe politics. His joining 40 other House members who sought to sustain President Bush's unpopular veto of improvements to Medicare is another.
Then there are the things he says that aren't so, the most famous being his continued insistence that abortions cause breast cancer. It was after he refused to stop repeating that on the floor of the Idaho House that then-Speaker Bruce Newcomb called Sali "an absolute idiot."
The Wall Street Journal last week published a story on Sali's current race with Democrat Walt Minnick, and contacted Newcomb about that characterization. The Republican former legislator, now teaching at Boise State University, declared, "I've not withdrawn my statement."
Surely by now there must be more than a few 1st District residents who wish they could withdraw their votes for a representative whose lack of moderation denies him political power. - J.F."
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - let Bill Sali know you appreciate his courage TODAY!!!
http://www.billsali.com/
KEEP THIS BUMPED ALL DAY!!! Please post this on any sympathetic forum you know
CAN I GET A STICKY???
THIS IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT - TODAY!!!!
If you WILL FOLLOW THROUGH, promise to donate if the "rumor you hear is true." TRUST ME - you will WANT to donate if the rumor I HEARD is true...
WATCH IDAHO!!!